Influence of NaOH solution on the synthesis of fly ash geopolymer

A study was conducted on leaching of fly ash mixed with NaOH solution and on mixing procedure for preparing geopolymer. Leaching of SiO2 and Al2O3 was investigated by mixing fly ash with NaOH solution for different time intervals and leachates were analyzed in terms of silica and alumina contents. To make geopolymer paste, separate mixing and normal mixing were used. For separate mixing, NaOH solution was mixed with fly ash for the first 10 min; subsequently sodium silicate solution was added into the mixture. For normal mixing, fly ash, sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solution were incorporated and mixed at the same time. Geopolymers were cured at 65 °C for 48 h. Microstructure of paste and compressive strength of mortar were investigated. Results revealed that solubility of fly ash depended on concentration of NaOH and duration of mixing with NaOH. For mixing procedure, separate mixing gave slightly better strength mortar than normal mixing. High strength geopolymer mortar up to 70.0 MPa was obtained when the mixture was formulated with 10 M NaOH and sodium silicate to NaOH ratio of 1.0, and the separate mixing sequence was used.